Bicycle:Columbia Model 74 Chainless Safety Bicycle

In the 1880s, American manufacturers produced the safety bicycle, a cycle with two wheels of the same size. The safety bicycle was seen as a vast improvement over the ordinary, a cycle with a large front wheel that required a great deal of atheleticism to mount and ride. The new safety bikes, with pneumatic tires, also presented a smoother, more comfortable ride. The safety bicycle made the vehicle suitable for all riders, young and old and male and female. In 1898 the Pope Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, sought to improve the safety by offering a chainless model, in which a shaft drive distributed power from the pedals equally to the two wheels. The chainless bicycle made an easier job of keeping the the drive shaft lubricated and operational. The chainless also appealed to female riders because they no longer worried about catching their clothing in the chains or getting oils on their skirts. Pope's chainless innovation, however, sold for about twice the price of a standard cycle. Priced too high for the common cyclist, the chainless bike did not catch on as a status symbol for wealthier riders. By the turn of the 20th century, however, the innovation of the chainless bike had little impact on the popularity of bicycles, In the early years of the 1900s, Americans had turned their attentions to the automobile for horseless transportation.